A multiple-fan active control wind tunnel for outdoor wind speed and direction simulation.

Area of Science:

• Engineering
• Atmospheric Science
• Fluid Dynamics

Background:

• Simulating realistic outdoor wind fields is crucial for various engineering applications.
• Existing wind tunnel technologies often lack the flexibility to replicate complex wind conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and validate a new active controlled multiple-fan wind tunnel.
• To assess the fidelity of simulated wind fields compared to natural outdoor wind fields.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing independently controlled direct current fans and swivel plates to generate diverse wind conditions.
• Employing nine two-dimensional ultrasonic anemometers to record wind speed and direction time series.
• Applying empirical mode decomposition for analyzing statistical properties across different time scales.
• Investigating time series complexity using multiscale entropy and multivariate multiscale entropy.

Main Results:

• The active controlled multiple-fan wind tunnel successfully generated varied wind fields.
• Empirical mode decomposition revealed similar statistical properties between simulated and outdoor wind fields.
• Multiscale entropy analysis indicated comparable complexity in wind speed and direction dynamics.

Conclusions:

• The developed multiple-fan wind tunnel is capable of accurately simulating outdoor wind fields.
• The findings support the use of this technology for research requiring realistic wind condition simulation.